Meet the Other Phone. Child-safe in minutes.

Meet the Other Phone.
Child-safe in minutes.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Chat

Join the discussion and chat with other Mumsnetters about everyday life, relationships and parenting.

Vegan wine

10 replies

7Days · 29/10/2018 01:19

Just saw this at the shop.
Good idea, nice for vegans to be able to drink wine. Might try it myself too - baby steps towards ethical living.

Except - isn't all wine vegan? It's made out of grapes. Maybe it ferments without yeast. Yeast is a living organism.

Vegan wine does not make sense.

OP posts:
acivilcontract · 29/10/2018 01:42

Wine is often filtered through fining products which are animal based, this is why some wines are labeled as veggi. All wine is fine but a lot is basically sieved for clarity etc using animal products.

7Days · 29/10/2018 01:51

Wow I never knew that.
We make the odd rough nettle wine or windfall cider here and yeast was all I could think of.

OP posts:
BelfastBloke · 29/10/2018 02:36

List of vegan booze: www.barnivore.com

Interested in this thread?

Then you might like threads about this subject:

notangelinajolie · 29/10/2018 02:43

Wine finings are ground fishbone.

epicclusterfuck · 29/10/2018 03:55

Some wine contains milk!

Unicyclethief · 29/10/2018 04:03

Vegan wine also seems to contain less sulfites, so I am a fan.

7Days · 29/10/2018 08:31

Wine contains milk!?

OP posts:
Terf2Terf · 29/10/2018 08:45

Wine is fined using either isinglass (fish bladder protein), casein (milk protein) or egg albumen (egg white). All of these products exist as by-products of another industry (ie fish aren't killed just to fine wine with!) They are the best fining agents for ensuring a clear wine. There is no actual fish, milk or egg product left in the wine. It is merely the method for removing anything which may make the wine slightly cloudy or taste off, eg clumps of proteins or yeasts.

Vegan wines use organic materials to do this, eg carbon, clays, plant proteins. There is more work involved in this, which is ultimately reflected in the price, and is why many of the big name brands (at the cheaper end of the market) don't use them.

Re sulphites - SO2 is a natural by-product of wine production (fermentation) so all wines contain some sulphites. If the winemaker adds any SO2 to help preserve the wine, it has to be put on the label ("contains sulphites") when it's over a certain amount. Red wines keep longer naturally, because of the tannins, so contain less added SO2.

The levels of sulphites in any wines is tiny, about 10 times less than the amount in dried fruit! Very very few people are actually allergic to SO2, but one's sensitivity to it can build up as you get older. Buying wine that doesn't say "contains sulphites" just means that there is a small quantity, or no, added SO2, because the naturally-occurring sulphites are felt to be sufficient in that particular blend. The winemaker only adds SO2 to ensure the wine stays fresh in the bottle for more than six months.

Someone also mentioned yeast. Yeasts occur naturally in grapes and it is these which help the natural grape sugars turn to alcohol during fermentation. The yeasts die off during the alcohol production so there wont be any in your wine.

(I work in the wine trade and get asked about this stuff a lot )

Welshcake77 · 29/10/2018 09:43

I opened this wondering what on earth made wine non-vegan...learnt something new today already. What a great explanation @Terf2Terf thank you!

Loyaultemelie · 29/10/2018 10:21

Unfortunately a lot of bars and restaurants need to learn this. I'm often told "but wine is just grapes" even by supposed trained sommelier. Barnivore is definitely my friend (or gin Halloween Grin)

New posts on this thread. Refresh page